Ben Githae Releases Praise Song for Kenya Kwanza Candidate

Musician Ben Githae holsing a book during aan event in October 2018..jpg
Musician Ben Githae holding a book during an event in October 2018.
Kenyans.co.ke

Popular gospel musician Ben Githae has made a comeback in recording political hit songs after he, on Thursday, May 12, released a praise song for Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria who is eyeing the Kiambu gubernatorial seat.

Githae, a renowned vocalist, is the voice behind Kuria's campaign song, despite him openly declaring that he would be supporting the Azimo la Umoja - One Kenya alliance.

The song is the musician's first over the past five years since the Tano Tena anthem in 2017. The song was a sequel to a similar one - Ndani that was played during President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto's campaigns in 2013.

An image from Ben Githae's 'Tano Tena' video released in 2017
An image from Ben Githae's 'Tano Tena' video released in 2017
YouTube

He was notably absent when the Azimio flag bearer released his campaign tune 'leo ni leo'. Raila opted to pair with Ben Musindi, an artist from Western Kenya, for a remix of the song.

Githae, in November 2021, endorsed the former Prime Minister for the presidency and offered to compose for the latter a song. Giving titbits to the song, the new tune would replace Uhruru-Ruto with Raila's name.

"We will modify the song a bit so to ndani nadani ndani, to the State House. Mlima wote, Baba Tosha," the musician sang.

However, in February, the artiste revealed that he revealed a lot of backlash from the Mt Kenya region where he hails from. He intimated that he had been questioned over which mountain would back the ODM party leader.

"After giving that short tease, those in my community began asking which mountain I was talking about and if there were two mountains. They also asked me why I had appointed myself as their spokesperson," Githae added.

The musician, however, vowed to continue campaigning for Azimio presidential flagbearer, Raila Odinga, despite the resistance. 

This was the second time he had been put on the spot because of his political hit songs. He intimated that he had been blamed by a section of Kenyans, for the hardship they were going through, for leading them to vote for Uhuru and Ruto. 

Notably, the composer noted that his music was independent of his political stand and he was just trying to make ends meet as any of them would.  The songs have earned him a good paycheck -as he revealed in April 2021.

"I was called to State House and met them (Uhuru and Ruto) at State House. They told me that they wanted to thank me and handed me an envelope; when I looked in I was surprised at the amount inside," he stated without giving the exact figure. 

Raila Odinga Ben Githae
Musician Ben Githae performs at a past Raila Odinga function convened by Royal Media Services Chairman SK Macharia
Kenyans.co.ke